The benefits and harms of salt: without it, the body can die

Today, researchers claim that salt can poison you and even die. But even without salt (sodium chloride), according to domestic scientists, a person will survive a maximum of 11 days! And after that – also death?

Where is the truth, and where is the fiction? Indeed, in ancient times, salt was called “white gold” and sold it more expensive than any product. Let’s figure it out together with the Deputy Director of the Federal State Budgetary Institution National Research Center for Endocrinology of the Ministry of Health of Russia and the Director of the Institute of Clinical Endocrinology, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ekaterina Troshina.

By the way, the whole world is also concerned about the “salt” problem today: Every year, at the initiative of WHO, World Salt Awareness Week is held, the purpose of which is to reduce it in the diet of people on Earth to preserve their own health. And now in Moscow (from October 31 to November 6) is the “World Week of Reduced Salt Consumption”.

Without salt, a person will die in 11 days.

– Ekaterina Anatolyevna, how true is the statement that without salt a person cannot survive, and humanity will end? Or is it such a horror story for “solemans”?

– Discussions about the benefits and harms of salt for the human body have been going on for centuries. In everyday life, we often hear diametrically opposed opinions and beliefs on this matter. Yes, there are people who, as they claim, do not use salt in their diet, citing the benefits for their own health.

But, fortunately, it is impossible to completely exclude it from the diet, sodium chloride (namely, this compound makes up to 99% of dietary salt) is found in many foods. Therefore, even ceasing to salt food in principle, a person will still receive sodium – the main element that is part of salt. It is found in meat, fish, seafood, bakery, meat and dairy products, cheeses, canned food, sauces, etc.

Salt, which is used in the preparation of almost all dishes, is sodium chloride (NaCl), where 40% chlorine and 60% sodium. The human body is not able to accumulate sodium, it comes only with food. And a complete rejection of salt can lead to big health problems.

– And what will happen if this sodium chloride does not enter the human body at all? Indeed, without salt, a person can die in 11 days?

– The answer is obvious: a person will die without salt, since sodium takes part in many vital physiological processes. The ancient proverb “Without salt, what is without will: you can’t live life”, undoubtedly, has its own social and medical meaning. Today, salt is a socially significant commodity, so the state, and not the market, regulates the cost of this product. And earlier, due to the high demand for salt, it was heavily taxed and even used as a currency. History remembers how rising salt prices led to salt riots.

– I would like to understand the “solo” medical meaning: how useful (or harmful) is it from the point of view of human physiology? You only hear from doctors: salt is harmful, limit its consumption …

– It is known that sodium not only regulates the balance of water and electrolytes in the human body, affects blood pressure, preventing the development of life-threatening hypotension (a critical decrease in pressure), participates in the hormonal regulation of life, but is also responsible for the generation of electrical impulses in nerve cells, without which normal muscle work is impossible, incl. myocardium (heart muscle). The benefits of salt are associated with the participation of sodium chloride in the life cycle of cells, in the processes of cell renewal, the removal of carbon dioxide from the body, with antioxidant and antibacterial effects, etc.

So sodium, which is part of the salt, is an indispensable substance for our body, its deficiency leads to disruption of the functions of many organs and systems. And chlorine is involved in many metabolic processes, including the breakdown of fats and the synthesis of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. And a complete rejection of salt can lead to such consequences as hypoxia, hypotension, heart rhythm disturbance, insomnia, dehydration, muscle weakness, fatigue, etc.

Help “MK”. According to WHO recommendations, the physiological norm for salt intake by an adult is 5 g per day (slightly less than 1 teaspoon). For children, it is even less and depends on the age group. We are talking not only about adding salt, but also about the salt contained in products, including ready-made, semi-finished products, snacks, sauces, chips, etc. The body needs so much salt to maintain water and mineral balance, conduct nerve impulses and work muscles. Moreover, WHO experts consider such an amount of salt not just the norm, but the maximum volume, which should not be exceeded. However, today, according to Rospotrebnadzor, on average, Russians consume salt twice as much – 11 g per day! In Europe – from 8 to 12 g. Men absorb salt more than women, because. they eat more. And each extra gram of sodium is an average of 200 ml of water, which lingers in the body, causing an increase in blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes and more.

“Hidden salt is a clear danger to human health”

– Ekaterina Anatolyevna, how to understand that the body has already become deficient of this chemical compound NaCl, or simply – table salt? What is the risk of deficiency? And under what diseases should one moderate one’s passion for salt?

– With a long-term refusal of salt (a sharp restriction below the physiological norm), a person feels nausea, dizziness, weakness and drowsiness, apathy, his pressure decreases, stool disorder, and abdominal pain are disturbing. And there are diseases in which it is generally unacceptable to limit it, for example, adrenal insufficiency, etc. And it is necessary to reduce the amount of salt in the diet, first of all, with arterial hypertension and pregnancy. Its excessive consumption, despite the fact that the “surplus” can be excreted with sweat and urine, is fraught with a violation of the physiological balance between potassium and sodium in the direction of increasing the latter. In turn, this leads to a violation of the water balance, a person develops edema, and blood pressure rises.

Increased salt intake can also lead to kidney stones, liver disease, bone fragility, osteoporosis (excess sodium leads to leaching of calcium from the bones).

– And, nevertheless, proverbs and sayings about salt, composed among our people, are more often positive …

– Yes, that’s right: “Don’t feel sorry for the salt, it’s more fun that way”; “Without salt it is tasteless, but without bread it is insatiable.” Salt is indeed a powerful flavor enhancer, but salty food is addictive: the more a person eats salty, the more he wants it. Therefore, it is extremely important to form eating behavior in children from an early age, to teach them not to eat excessively salty food, not to add salt to food on the table. And try to protect them from any chips, smoked meats, etc.

It is important to know that hidden salt is an obvious health hazard. The danger lies in the fact that about 80% of the salt consumed by a person falls precisely on hidden salt, which is contained in ready-made and semi-finished products. It is especially abundant in processed meats (bacon, salami, sausages, ham), cheeses, pickled foods, bouillon cubes, olives, smoked and salted fish, sauces, mayonnaise, ketchups…

Hidden salt can even be found in baby food, cookies, bars, muesli, butter, cottage cheese, minced meat and almost any bread. Natural meat, fish, eggs are also products containing a lot of salt.

But… There is always an opportunity to limit yourself in products with a high salt content, Refuse to add salt to cooked food. Often such a simple way to reduce the average daily salt intake is decisive, for example, in the treatment of the most common disease – arterial hypertension. For adults, to enhance the food attractiveness of products, various seasonings based on herbs, lemon juice, pepper, onion, garlic and much more can become an alternative to “white poison”.

– Can iodized salt become an alternative to regular salt? Does it harm the person less? Or, as they say, it doesn’t matter?

– Iodized salt is a preventive product, the most important in terms of mass (population) iodine prevention in regions where the population experiences chronic iodine deficiency in the diet. Why was salt chosen as such a carrier? I don’t think it’s a coincidence.

Salt is a socially significant and cheap product; absolutely everyone eats it. It was this circumstance that predetermined her choice as a carrier of iodine. Iodized salt is common table salt (sodium chloride) that has chemically added potassium iodide or iodate. The recommended amount of iodine for a person, in accordance with the needs of the body, should be at least 150-250 mcg / day, which is provided by the same 5 grams of iodized salt (1 teaspoon). But it contributes to the prevention of many endocrine disorders, primarily thyroid pathology, as well as diseases of the nervous system of newborns and young children. And not only in children.

It has been proven that in the Russian Federation 20-40% of the population have thyroid diseases, while 80% of them are caused by chronic iodine deficiency in the diet. And iodine deficiency, which exists throughout our country, which has been proven in the course of many years of epidemiological studies, can lead to a number of intellectual and physical disorders, and is largely the cause of deviant behavior in adolescents. Leads to miscarriage, birth defects. In conditions of uncompensated iodine deficiency, the risk of radiation-induced thyroid cancer increases, primarily in children, cardiovascular diseases in the elderly are aggravated, and the risks of heart rhythm disturbances increase.

By and large, it is the deficiency of iodine in the body that leads to a decrease in the intellectual potential of society, social infantilism. The IQ of the population is reduced by 13-15 points. It is extremely important that all iodine deficiency diseases can be prevented, while changes caused by iodine deficiency, for example, at the stage of intrauterine development and in early childhood, are irreversible and practically defy treatment and rehabilitation. By the way, in the WHO recommendations on reducing salt intake in the diet, they are completely harmonized with its iodization. The principle is simple: you need to eat less salt, but at the same time it must be iodized. There is iodized salt on sale, I recommend giving preference to it.

Expert advice for every day:

– for an adult, the norm of daily salt intake is 5 grams;

– children from 0 to 9 months – salt should not be added to food;

– from 18 months to 3 years – the recommended norm per day is not more than 2 grams;

– from 7 to 10 years – the recommended norm per day is not more than 5 grams.

…So, it is known from history that in ancient times salt was called “white gold”, it was paid for work in the form of tiles, and the salt itself was sold more expensive than any product. But today this “white gold” is worth a penny, although it is priceless for human health. Experts warn that both the “bust” of salt intake, and inadequate reduction in its consumption, negatively affects human health. It is important to maintain a reasonable balance and follow the recommendations: use salt, but not more than 5 grams per day.